The Unbound
by Soundless Voices
Summary: Monkey D. Luffy is abandoned when he was four on an uninhabitable island, away from human eyes due to his Devil Fruit abilities. Three years later, he is found by the Whitebeard Pirates, and stays with them for a year. But he wants to be free. To be Unbound. So he conveniently disappears and comes back as a seventeen year old assassin ten years later.


**Sabo is alive, and is Luffy's older brother so to speak. Luffy has a different devil fruit, the Mizu Mizu no mi (Water). I'll probably use this fruit for most of my stories :) Hope you enjoy reading! PS. Ace will not be shipped with Luffy. **

"_Ne, otouto (younger brother)."_

_A boy about four looked over at his older surrogate brother. Dark eyes met his brother's sapphire blue and the boy blinked slowly in the sunlight._

"_Yeah?" it came as a quiet, melodic question._

"_Do... do you think there is a place for everyone in the world?"_

"_A place, aniki (older brother)?" the younger responded, his forehead furrowing at his older brother's question. It wasn't often that his aniki got this way, but when he did, it usually meant something had upset the boy._

"_Yeah, a place. Somewhere someone belongs no matter what." The elder elaborated. Despite the seriousness of the conversation, the elder remained nonchalant, his hands folded under his head, cushioning it against the already soft grass. He had long since looked away from his baby brother, his azure eyes returning to fixate on the stars that swirled above the two young boys._

_It hadn't been the first time they laid out in the grass during warm summer nights, just like it wasn't the first time the elder boy asked the younger something far beyond a four year old's comprehension, but the boy responded regardless._

"_I believe there is a place for everyone to make their own."_

"_A place to make your own, huh?" the elder boy questioned, his head rolling back to the right to stare at his younger brother. "What if there isn't a place?" he asked quietly. The younger of the two seemed to consider this, before tilting his head up a fraction to continue to look at the stars._

_"There will always be a place, aniki. There is no one person alive who is genuinely their own person. There is always someone out there with the same ideals, the same thoughts. Whether they are strong enough to voice them is what makes the places in the world. You just have to be strong, and let them know you're there."_

"Was I right?" A boy murmured as he absently brushed away a teardrop from his cheek. "If I was right, would I be here right now? If I was right, would I have been ostracized by everyone I'd ever known? If I was right, would I have been abandoned on this island?" The last question was whispered into the silence that shrouded the boy.

A four-year-old boy watched the gloomy sky from his perch, his back against the tree trunk, his legs stretched out in front of him. This was his escape, high in the trees where no one could reach him. Isolated and alone, where eyes can't see him and faces can't sneer at him. It is a safe haven, but a curse.

Loneliness.

It's a double-edged sword.

Alone, he doesn't have to listen to the poison that spews from people's lips, washing over him and choking him. He doesn't have to see the hatred and malice directed toward a devil spawn or the jeering glee at the image of said spawn's rightfully earned suffering and death for the crime of having powers he didn't wish to possess. He doesn't have to hear parents talking proudly of their children when he had none to turn to. When he is alone, he is spared that.

But when he is alone, he is trapped in his own head. When he is with people, he at least has something he can take his frustration out on. Without them, his thoughts enter a downward spiral of anger and self-disgust.

Still, it is better this way; at least, that is what he has convinced himself.

Who can possibly stand the thought of being near someone like him?

He didn't deserve to be born. He is evil personified after all; there is nothing good about him.

He is tainted.

And so his thoughts would go, on and on in an endless, self-crippling cycle. Just like the water cycle, the thoughts would repeat, torturing him.

The agitated clouds let loose their burden, battering at his body relentlessly, but all the drenched boy could think about was that he was far away from everyone. From civilization. From people.

They had abandoned him on this obscure island after all. He had been left to die.

He was alone, his body becoming one with the rainwater that poured from the untouchable heavens. He was silent, as he would be for years to come. He was deserted, and the all-knowing skies were comforting him.

* * *

THREE YEARS LATER

The muggy air clung to the atmosphere of the forest. Three men marched through the trees, the first one irritably cutting a deep swath through the lush undergrowth. "Why the hell do I have to be the one doing this?"

Marco, the second in line, let out an exasperated sigh, having heard a whole string of complaints ever since they had arrived at this deserted island. But he bit his tongue, knowing that retorting would just trigger another avalanche of whining.

Ace, the last in the line, apparently had no such qualms. Marco groaned as the boy once again spoke his mind without thinking first. "Shut up, Thatch. If it was such a hassle to come, why did you bother?" The freckled boy asked flatly.

That set off another argument between the two males, the third one in as many minutes. Suddenly, Thatch broke off from his shouting match.

"This island is creepy," Thatch said, glancing at the prolific plants that threatened to latch onto the group of pirates before casually hacking his way through them. "I feel like I'm being watched. I hate that feeling. Especially if it's a pirate crew who fancy themselves strong enough to defeat us. Do you know how annoying that is?"

"Thatch, shut up, yoi." Marco snapped impatiently, swatting at a plant in his path.

"Spoil sport," Thatch muttered, huffing and crossing his arms. "Ace, you're with me right?"

"With you on what?" Ace asked, not even glancing back as he continued to incinerate the unlucky plants that blocked him. "The pirates or the creepiness?"

"Both!" Thatch exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.

"I'll admit that the pirate crews challenging Oyaji are pretty annoying, but this island isn't creepy." Ace sent a giant leaf lying on the ground flying through the air. "It's just plain irritating."

"YAAAAAAHHH! The bugs are going to eat me, I swear!" Thatch jumped onto Marco's back. "Marco! Save me! I'm too young to die!"

"You're going to die even sooner if you don't get off me, yoi!" Marco threatened, forcibly shoving the redhead off him. Ace exploded into laughter, prompting Marco to turn around and glare at him. "And you! Stop encouraging his stupid behavior!"

"But Marcooo," They whined pitifully, attempting to make puppy dog eyes, which totally failed to hinder the phoenix.

Suddenly, Marco halted and bent down, his fingers smoothing over a leaf. Ace and Thatch exchanged glances and shrugged simultaneously, accepting Marco's queer mannerisms. Marco abruptly waved them over, blue eyes boring holes into the plant.

"What is it?" Ace asked the other male as he walked forward. He swept his eyes over the plant, looking for the source of curiosity.

"Blood, yoi." Marco said, his gaze unwavering and blank as he pointed at the crimson splotches on the plant and the ground behind it.

Ace pushed vegetation out of the way to get a closer look. It was blood. Human blood. And still fresh, less than a few hours old.

"A human's blood?" Thatch mused, glancing around them cautiously. "I thought this island was uninhabited. Hell, even most pirates avoid this island like the plague."

"This island is uninhabited, yoi." Marco corrected. "It's pretty much impossible for any humans to live or stay here, because of the animals. This is my first time here, but rumors say that the animals are a fifty to hundred times bigger and more aggressive than they should be."

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Fifty to a hundred? That's pretty impressive. I can't wait to explore this island!"

Thatch snorted incredulously, whacking Ace on the head. "Only you'd want to explore an island with deadly animals. Seriously, where's your common sense? Were you dropped on your head as a kid?"

Ace rounded on the fourth division commander. "As a matter of fact, I was! That shitty geezer wasn't that nice to me, plus I was raised by mountain bandits!"

"Break it up, yoi!" Marco said brusquely, standing between the bickering pair. "I don't think what Ace said is a bad idea, yoi. We might be able to find this person."

"Fine!" Thatch cried, before jabbing a finger at Ace. "But if I die, I'm blaming you."

Ace shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, but you'll be dead."

"I'm going to punch you two if you don't break it up now, yoi!" Marco shrieked, losing all self-restraint. Thatch muttered, "You already did just a few minutes ago…" under his breath. Ace rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before attempting a smile at the fuming phoenix. "Yeah. Blood trail. Follow it. Right."

Marco's left eyebrow twitched dangerously. But he simply spun around and stalked into the bushes, presumably following the thin trail of blood. Ace and Thatch just laughed merrily and joined the stoic phoenix.

* * *

The rust-colored smears continued, leading deeper and deeper into the emerald depths of the jungle. After a while, the only sounds were the tinny buzzing of insects, the pounding of feet against soil and the soft even breaths of the men.

Time blurred like the monotonous green background of the trees. The serenity was abruptly broken by a roar.

It was no ordinary roar. It was a predatory roar, full of killing intent, and enough to send chills down the spines of the three Whitebeard commanders.

"The blood trail leads that way. We should check it out, yoi." Marco said slightly urgently. Translation: If we don't get there in time, the poor dude will probably die. Ace and Thatch nodded before navigating their way around the tree roots, a sense of danger that was previously absent hung in the air.

The three commanders burst of the tree line, skidding to a stop in a wide clearing. The first thing they noticed was the tiger; it was kind of hard to miss, given that it was almost as tall as the overgrown trees surrounding them.

The second thing was a slender boy standing in the middle of the clearing, a katana fixed to his waist. He couldn't have been older than seven.

Ace immediately sprinted towards the tiger, afraid that it would kill the boy. "Leave this to us, boy!"

The child turned his pitch black eyes to him, and suddenly Ace felt like there was an unknown weight pressing on him, as he locked gazes with the most piercing eyes he had ever seen, on par with Hawk Eye Mihawk's.

As Ace was frozen in place, the slight boy turned away, leaping up onto the neck of the tiger gracefully. A flash of metal, and the tiger was roaring again. Not with maliciousness, but with the wildness and desperation of a cornered animal.

The poor animal crashed to the ground, cracking jagged lines in the dry earth about it. As the dust cleared, the silhouette of the boy was visible through the smoke.

The three Whitebeard commanders gaped at him, in shock that such a young boy managed to bring down the large predator.

However, the youth swayed unsteadily on his feet, almost tipping sideways as he clutched at his side.

Ace recovered his wits, rushing towards the boy and catching him just as he toppled over. Tentatively moving his fingers over the soft ones of the younger male, Ace pulled his hand away only to see a thick, viscous liquid coating his fingers.

He gently pried the boy's fingers away to study the extent of the wound. "He's in pretty bad shape, yoi." Marco commented calmly at the sight of the gore.

The child glared at them, barely clinging on to the shreds of consciousness, and thumbed open the katana. "Whoa there! We aren't going to harm you!" Thatch waved his arms around in the air.

The child didn't even hear him, sinking into comforting darkness, his shrewd eyes obscured as his eyelids fluttered shut reluctantly. Ace let out a whole stream of curse words, hefting the boy up easily. He was surprisingly light for being so strong and Ace had no problem had no problems whatsoever carrying him through the jungle.

"Will he die? AAAAAAHHHHH! What if he dies? What are we going to d-!" Thatch babbled. Marco grabbed hold of his collar and dragged him away. "Shut up, yoi!" Marco said as he finally caught up with Ace.

The kid let out a slight groan of pain whenever he was jerked uncomfortably by the rocking motion of Ace's run. Weaving between the trees, the three pirates rushed back towards the familiar towering shape of the Moby Dick.

Ace leaped upwards, his burden hardly slowing him down. Landing securely on the weather-beaten deck, he took off towards the direction of the infirmary.

He pushed open the door, almost knocking the poor innocent thing off its hinges, as he stumbled into the white and sterile environment. "Here again, Ace? What did you do this time?" The nurse, Selma asked with a resigned sigh, not even glancing up from her work. "I swear I see you here everyday."

Ace grinned humorously. "Nah, its not me this time. I found a brat, and he really needs help."

The woman immediately raised her head, bustling over to the muscular young man, her eyes fixed on the small child cradled in his arms.

"Put him on the bed." The nurse said tersely as she took out bandages and disinfectants from the medical cupboard. Ace lowered the boy on the bed, wincing as the grime and sweat on the body rubbed onto the clean sheets.

"What the hell happened, Ace? You don't normally have a habit of bringing back kids." Selma said as she came back, arms laden with medical supplies.

"The kid was on the uninhabited island, Selma. I can't just leave him behind. Plus, he is really strong for a kid his age. He took down a huge tiger all by himself." Ace retorted as he pulled the boy's shirt over his head, knowing the standard procedure so that the nurse could study the wound.

A grimace touched his face as he felt the laden shirt, soaked through with blood. Crimson was quickly seeping into the pristine bedsheets as Selma tried bandaging the deep gash on the boy's back and side. "I can see that, seeing as he keeps two kodachi and a katana on him…" The stoic nurse commented drily, handing the aforementioned weapons to Ace.

Ace snatched the proffered weapons, putting them on the bedside table. "Now, get out. You are just useless standing there. I don't need your help anymore." Ace nodded, heading outside.

But before he stepped over the threshold, the teen turned around and glanced at the patient as bandages were wrapped around his torso.

The paleness of the boy's skin due to blood loss bled into the equally bleached sheets, his body small on the large bed. He shook his head, and couldn't believe that the tiny squirt managed to take down the enormous animal with that wound. Ace shut the door quietly, closing his eyes.

But he only saw the intense eyes of the unknown child, far older and open to the horrors of the world whenever his eyelids slid shut.


End file.
